A recovery center in Nigeria takes a musical approach to combating drug addiction · Global Voices

Jeremiah ‘Spokesman’ Aluwong, Head of Mission of LightWK (seated in the middle), with residents of the Light Center. LightWK mission photo, used with permission.

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria (NDLEA) states that 14.3 million Nigerians suffer from a substance abuse disorder and one in four drug users is a woman. Tragically, every year, the West African country sets records 2.5 million drug-related deaths. Projections show that by 2030 there will be a 40 percent increase in the use of psychoactive drugs in Africa.

In an effort to curb this widespread problem, the light centera free faith-based residential recovery and skills center run by LightWK Mission a KadunaNigeria, provides assistance to substance users, dealers and others by offering a range of care services focused on recovery, redemption and restoration.

“We believe that real lasting transformation happens when the heart is changed. Addiction is a symptom of something else, and that’s the reason so many rehabs fail, because they try to deal with the substance, but this is not the problem. There is a root cause,” Jeremiah Aluwong, Head of Mission at LightWK, he told Global Voices during an in-person interview.

Mishael Sambo, 25, is a resident of the Light Center. He has lost count of the number of times he has been arrested. “I got used to handcuffs when I was a teenager. I have been arrested many times by the police and drug law enforcement officers. My parents don’t know, though. There’s always a way out,” he confessed while speaking to Global Voices.

Mishael Sambo. LightWK mission photo, used with permission.

Sambo, who once studied film and television production at NTA College in Jos, struggled to cope with his studies when his drug habit escalated from tramadol, a painkiller, to crack cocaine. He recalls, “A high school student at my boarding school suggested tramadol to help with my sleep problems. Then I started abusing it, but an ex-girlfriend later introduced me to crack cocaine. That’s when I started selling my things, turning to crime and using my belongings as collateral.”

After repeatedly squandering the transport money his family sent back to his hometown of Kaduna, Sambo stayed in Jos until he racked up a huge debt with a cocaine dealer who threatened to kill him . That’s when he finally ran home.

“I told my parents that I needed help, that I needed rehabilitation, but no one listened to me, and I got worse: stealing, lying to my parents until they kicked me out.”

He added: “I went back to the street. That was the only place I knew. Getting to the jungle (a drug den) until things got out of control. I had no money, no change of clothes. So I decided to go home. They opened the door for me, which I did not expect to happen so easily. I applied, was evaluated and accepted.”

Asked about the correlation between substance abuse and crime, the Director General of the Kaduna State Bureau of Substance Abuse, Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA), Joseph O. Ike, told Global Voices: “The key players are often young people in their most productive stages of life. Drug abuse worsens crime, insecurity and other negative social indices in the communities where it is prevalent.”

A musical method to the madness

When Jeremiah “Spokesman” Aluwong, a Christian rapper turned pastor, began evangelizing in the “jungles,” he did not know that his mission would include a residential recovery center. In an attempt to create a systematic way to mentor young people while using their artistic gift, LightWK’s mission was born.

Jeremiah ‘spokesman’ Aluwong. LightWK mission photo, used with permission.

“We started going to the jungles of Kaduna to rap and preach the gospel. More than a thousand boys gathered in one night. They loved to see us there: shepherds in tank tops and caps (caps baseball), we were all lyrical, and during COVID, I was always in the jungles, bringing them sanitary supplies (masks and disinfectants). It really mattered. They had dreadlocks. The churches didn’t like them. I became their pastor.”

One of the most notorious drug dens in Kaduna,”Black Street,” became one of the 154 jungles where LightWK evangelized every Friday and Saturday, but they didn’t stop at just rapping and preaching.

“I don’t think it’s enough to go and preach. I believe in discipleship evangelism. I think people should be rooted and rooted.”

In an event a Gombe Statesome parents approached Aluwong asking for help for their substance-abusing children, but he had no place to keep them.

The beginning of the Center of Light

The Light Center was created in 2021. “If we were going to help people from outside this city, we needed a place to keep them. We decided to run it for free because most streets cannot afford reclamation,” Aluwong disclosed.

Adopting a biopsychosocial-spiritual model, the Light Center offers skills courses, Christian theology classes and personal development workshops.

“This is all about CART (Christ-centered approach to recovery therapy). Addicts are held captive by a lifestyle, but the gospel sets them free, and we’ve seen this happen time and time again.” , Aluwong explained while quoting scripture.

some studies suggest that religion and spiritual faith can help prevent and recover from substance abuse, largely because of the social support and strong community that can emerge in faith-based spaces. Although medication and psychological interventions are recognized as important for rescue and recovery, studies have concluded that they are not sufficient.

Turning over a new leaf

The Center of Light has graduated 251 men and women since its inception. James Pirmah, 29, is one of them. He told Global Voices that the hardest part of his recovery polysubstance use I was dealing with withdrawal symptoms. After completing 14 weeks of in-house recovery and a one-month assessment break where he was exposed to his triggers and temptations, he realized what had been missing from his life all along: a deeper understanding of God. “Actually, if I had known Christ earlier, I don’t think I would have gone this far,” he said.

Pirmah, who has a degree in computer science, is now studying an online course in data analytics and is working to go back to school for a higher degree. Like him, many others who have successfully stayed at the Center of Light have stepped back and now belong to a new community.

James Primah. LightWK mission photo, used with permission.

According to Aluwong, 95 percent of the former residents of the Light Center have made positive progress, as some are now gainfully employed and others have returned to school. “Our focus is not sobriety. It’s community and responsibility. We want them to take responsibility, so they’re free to talk about their journey. Even when they leave, this is a family to them. I see all their potential and the that they can be. I just want to see them win. If I had all the money in the world I’d give it all to support some of them financially because their families s “they have given up.”

When Global Voices visited the center, there were no female residents present at the time.

The center operates free of charge, but Aluwong disclosed that the average recovery cost per person is 1.6 million naira (about US$1,000). Only 10 people are admitted per session:

“The center has been self-financed without any type of subsidy. Another reason we do recovery for free is because when they come here without paying a cent, they’re not only humbled, but they realize we’re doing it out of genuine love.”